BJJ News

Real American Freestyle Moscow Event Moved Over Sanctions

Real American Freestyle Moscow Event Moved Over Sanctions

The American grappling world learned something this week that nobody wanted to learn on a 48-hour notice: when you take your sport international, you also take on international law. Real American Freestyle — the MMA-meets-wrestling promotion that's been eating Bellator's lunch on network TV — moved
Read more →
Murilo Bustamante Earns Coral Belt: 50-Year Legacy at 60

Murilo Bustamante Earns Coral Belt: 50-Year Legacy at 60

Murilo Bustamante put on a coral belt on August 3rd, 2026, and that sentence carries more weight than most people who don't train will ever understand. Coral belt—8th-degree black—isn't a promotion you campaign for or market yourself into.
Read more →
ONE Fight Night 47: Lovato Jr Cancelled—Here's Why

ONE Fight Night 47: Lovato Jr Cancelled—Here's Why

You saw the headline: ONE Fight Night 47, September 4 in Bangkok, Lovato Jr versus Jaworski on Prime Video. John Lovato Jr—43 years old, America's most decorated grappling specialist, a heavyweight submission artist who makes people stop mid-scroll and actually read the byline.
Read more →
A Banned Move in a Sanctioned Event: What Willian Masuda's Injury Reveals About BJJ's Enforcement Gap

A Banned Move in a Sanctioned Event: What Willian Masuda's Injury Reveals About BJJ's Enforcement Gap

Willian Masuda, a 37-year-old BJJ instructor known to the community as "Kabuto," was attempting to develop a stronger foundation in what he thought would be a new phase of his grappling career. On August 22, 2026, at Super Pro Jiu-Jitsu 2026 in Londrina, Paraná, that plan ended in a moment.
Read more →
Colby Covington Joins Hype FC for Submission Grappling

Colby Covington Joins Hype FC for Submission Grappling

Colby Covington proved something remarkable in fourteen months: if you're elite at one combat sport, you can cash in on credentials in the next. He retired from MMA in May 2026 after twelve years in the UFC.
Read more →
Banned Pile Driver Causes Cervical Spine Injury

Banned Pile Driver Causes Cervical Spine Injury

On August 22, 2026, Willian Hiroyuki Masuda, a 37-year-old jiu-jitsu instructor known in the community as 'Kabuto,' suffered a catastrophic cervical spine injury during a no-gi competition at the MoringĂŁo gymnasium in Londrina, Brazil. The injury wasn't caused by a technical slip or an escalation th
Read more →
Bo Nickal Faces Olympic Judoka at RAF Moscow

Bo Nickal Faces Olympic Judoka at RAF Moscow

This Friday, September 5, 2026, Bo Nickal will step into the cage in Moscow to face Shirvani Muradov—a man who hasn't competed in professional combat sports since 2012. That's fourteen years.
Read more →
Kevin James Recalls 'Panicking' in His First BJJ Class: 'I Was Basically Trying to Choke My Training Partner'

Kevin James Recalls 'Panicking' in His First BJJ Class: 'I Was Basically Trying to Choke My Training Partner'

Kevin James, the actor and comedian who's been training jiu-jitsu long enough to earn a blue belt, recently sat down with Joe Rogan and described his first class in a way that every single person who's been to an opening session will recognize: he panicked. Not the casual "oh this is new" kind of pa
Read more →